Map: Surroundings & Nearby

This open secret (named for the Japanese for "sacred place") at 130 St Mark's Place just steps from Avenue A boasts no sign — just a noren fluttering in a doorway. Behind it is a small, exposed brick space and a sushi bar with all the familiar Yasuda wood echoes, but manned not by the more business-like itamae uptown, but a jovial, smiling sushi master, a Japanese sushi Santa Claus whose 13- to 14-course, $65 omakase is one of the greatest gifts the city's sushi-lovers have been given in a while. The pace is great, the fish makes you close and roll your eyes back, and you don't have to be a trustafarian or investment banker to afford it. This is Norihiro "Miyake" Ishizuka's second stint in New York. He opened Umeda in 1989 (in what is now Novita), a place ahead enough of New York's sake trend to garner a profile of its restaurateur Scott Latham, and notable enough to get a Diner's Journal review in The New York Times by critic Bryan Miller, showing that Miyake's winning personality and charm has been a noted signature for more than 20 years. There is no menu at Kura. The idea is to feature seasonal ingredients and rotate the kappo dishes at the beginning of the meal to highlight chef Miyake's array of skills to make sure customers don't get the same dishes on each visit. These kappo dishes, which are followed by sushi, are the traditional cooked dishes from Osaka where he started out, and focus on simplicity and tastiness in contrast to Kaiseki (Kyoto) dishes which focus on presentation. — Arthur Bovino, 6/18/2013

The Daily Meal Editors and Community Say...

Foursquare Tips

There's no sign but walk past the curtain, open the door and be transported to a hidden gem. Chef Norihito will not let you down.

Justin | 2013-03-19 23:10:05

Definitely a top tier sushi omakase restaurant in new york city. Highly recommended to those who seek quality sushi.

Catherine | 2015-01-06 14:32:03

Very intimate space. Seats only 12 people at a time. Delicious fish.

Connie | 2014-08-23 14:43:02

Make a reservation. Sushi omakase. Make it happen.

Mona | 2013-07-18 02:05:17

Sit down. Shut up. Let the food come to you. Talk to the chef and soak in the atmosphere. You're in Japan.